


Coming Home

by BFab



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 08:12:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2500811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BFab/pseuds/BFab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saw a prompt on Tumblr, "untimely confession" and, well, this happened.  Castiel is getting married and Dean is his best friend and best man, and also in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the lovely [ANobleCompanion](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ANobleCompanion/pseuds/ANobleCompanion) for putting eyes on this for me and fixing mistakes. Any remaining mistakes were mine.

Dean Winchester stood in an upstairs room of an old mansion that had been converted into a venue for weddings and parties. It was a gorgeous house with original details, and was a popular choice in their area. He finished tying his red bow tie, making sure it was straight, and shrugged on his tuxedo jacket. He straightened the cuffs of his dress shirt and smiled when he touched the custom cufflinks in the shape of tiny 1967 Impalas. Castiel had given them to him as a gift, a thank you for Dean acting as his best man at his wedding. His wedding to Meg, which was happening today, in just a few hours. Dean looked around the small room crowded with various bags and casual shoes; it ended up being the storage/dressing room for the groomsmen. He took a deep breath, practiced a genuine looking smile in the mirror, and headed out into the hallway where Cas and the rest of the groomsmen were about to head downstairs to take some pictures. 

“Ah! There’s the best man,” Castiel’s brother, Gabriel, said cheerfully, “let’s get this show on the road, sooner we’re done with the photog sooner we can hit the bar.” He slapped Dean on the shoulder with a grin and steered him downstairs, leading the rest of the guys. 

They spent the next 30 minutes doing the formal, posed groomsmen pictures (none of the ladies yet since they were sticking to the whole tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other until the walk down the aisle). It was a nice crisp fall day so thankfully they weren’t sweating or anything in their monkey suits, but Dean still felt stiff and awkward, his forced smile frozen in place. He felt like he wanted to run, but he had to be here for Cas. They’d been best friends since they were fifteen and Dean had broken some jerk’s nose who had been about to pummel Cas. 

They finished their photos and headed inside while the photographer went to see if the bride and her bridesmaids were ready for their pictures yet. The bar needed another few minutes to set up and get ready to serve so they sat on comfortable chairs and couches in a nearby sitting room. Castiel sighed and untied his bow tie, letting it hang loosely down from his collar, and unbuttoned the top couple buttons of his shirt. 

“Nervous, little brother?” Gabe said from his relaxed sprawl in a chair, legs over one of the arms. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. You don’t have much to do, just stand there and repeat a few words. Almost impossible to screw up. Meg is the one who’s supposed to be stressed today.”

Castiel nodded and looked down at his shoes, “Yes, I know. Everything should go smoothly.” But he still seemed reserved.

“Give us a few minutes to get some alcohol into you and you’ll feel better,” Balthazar offered, squeezing Castiel’s shoulder encouragingly, “nerves are perfectly normal.”

“Thanks, Bal,” Castiel said, looking up and managing a smile. 

They sat around a while longer, talking about Castiel’s upcoming honeymoon trip to Hawaii, asking if he had moved all of his stuff out of his and Gabe’s apartment and into Meg’s house they’d be sharing yet (no, he still had a few boxes to move), and wondering if they could talk the bartender into putting the football game on the tv. Dean slipped out, muttering something about finding the bathroom, and walked away. Sam had heard something in his voice, so he got up to follow him a minute or so later. 

The men’s bathroom was empty, but Sam found Dean in a small rear hallway; he was standing (hiding) in a back corner near a potted plant, shoulders hunched. “Hey Dean, everything alright?” He said, putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder, surprised when he felt it trembling.

Dean jumped a little and turned around and Sam saw that his eyes were wet with tears. “Yeah, Sammy, I’m ok, I just needed a minute is all. I’m just being an idiot.” He wiped quickly at his eyes, sniffling once and shaking his head. 

“Dean,” Sam said softly, “you should tell him. You should say something.”

“No Sam, he’s happy and he’s getting married and I’m his best friend. I’m not going to do anything to screw that up. He deserves this,” Dean told him angrily. 

“Hey, you deserve to be happy too,” Sam pushed, “and you’re in love with Cas. It’s not fair to either of you for you not to tell him that!”

“I’m not going to lose my best friend,” Dean said with a shaking voice, “I’m going to smile and support him through today and they’re going to leave on their honeymoon and I’m going to drink until it doesn’t hurt so freaking much,” ending in a sob. Sam didn’t say anything after that, he just pulled his big brother into a hug until he could calm himself down.

A few steps down the hall, out of sight, Castiel was standing frozen to the spot. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was just impossible. When he heard movement that signaled the brothers straightening up and getting ready to go back to the party, he slipped away as quickly as he could.

Castiel rushed upstairs to the dressing room, made a couple frantic phone calls, and wrote a letter for Meg. In the letter he said that he was so sorry, she didn’t deserve this, and he’d called the travel agency and told them Meg would be bringing a guest but it wouldn’t be him, so she could bring whoever she wanted to their honeymoon. He apologized again, and left an envelope with her name on it with the wedding coordinator, asking her to deliver it to the bride in 15 minutes. 

The groom headed back downstairs to where all of his groomsmen were gathered- Gabe, Chuck, Balthazar, Sam, Dean- and said “Dean, I’m having trouble with my tie, can you help me? I shouldn’t have undone it after pictures, now I can’t get it to look right again,” he ducked his head and gave a sheepish smile, “The rest of you, the bartender told me he’s ready for you so go grab a drink, we’ll be there shortly. Hopefully you guys have figured out how to get the game on so we have something to watch while we wait.”

Dean nodded woodenly and followed Castiel upstairs without a word. When they walked into the dressing room Cas immediately started stuffing their street clothes and wallets/phones into a duffel bag. “Hey Cas, what’s going on? Everything ok?” Cas just stopped in his tracks, looked to Dean for a few long seconds, and said, “It will be.” 

Castiel slung the bag over his shoulder and grabbed Dean’s wrist, dragging him out the back way to the Impala. Dean didn’t say anything when Cas threw the bag in the back seat and got in the driver’s side, keys in hand. Dean didn’t know what was going on, what he should say, so he just got in the passenger side. Castiel pulled out of the parking lot and drove, turning up the music and staring out the windshield, not talking and not looking at Dean. An hour or so later he pulled suddenly onto a side road and followed its winding for a minute until they found themselves in a quiet meadow. Cas climbed out of the car and moved forward to sit on the hood, hanging his head and running his hands through his hair. 

Dean recognized the meadow as the place he and Cas used to come to drink and talk as teenagers; nobody else knew about this place and it was where they had become best friends; where Dean had fallen in love with Cas. He followed Cas to the hood of the car and sat down next to him, shrugging off his jacket and untying his bow tie. So here he was, next to his best friend, sitting in a meadow on the hood of his car wearing tuxedos, and Cas was supposed to be getting married in about… 30 minutes. Dean was still at a loss for words so he sat quietly and let Cas sort out whatever was going through his mind. He let his own mind wander back through the years, thinking about all the time they’d spent together in this meadow.

~~~

The first time they came here, Dean was new to the high school and had been behind the bleachers with a girl; he was walking back to the school to get Sammy and drive home when he saw Castiel getting pushed against a wall by some asshole in a letterman’s jacket, his books scattered on the sidewalk and the guy saying “I thought I told you to _stay away_ from April, she’s my girlfriend and I don’t want some sorry ass nerd drooling all over her while I’m at football practice.” and Cas was saying “Zach, she came to me and asked for help in History. We were studying.” Zach had bared his teeth and was pulling his arm back for a punch when Dean sauntered up in his leather jacket and said, “Problem, gentlemen?” 

Zach kept Castiel pinned to the wall and turned to Dean to say “None of your fuckin’ business loser, I’m handling this.” Dean just kept moving closer and laughed, “April, she’s the pretty redhead with blue eyes and a sweet face, right?” Zach finally turned his full attention to Dean, he let Castiel go and he slumped down the wall a bit before starting to gather his books and papers from the ground. “That’s her,” Zach said dangerously, “what’s it to you?”

Dean was standing there with a relaxed stance, his hands in the pockets of his jacket and an easy smile on his face, staring down the star football player who was doing his best to intimidate the new kid. “Ah, not much,” Dean told him, “she’s a really nice girl, I just spent a little bit of time with her behind the bleachers.” Here he paused and gave Zach a conspiratorial smile, leaning in and dropping his voice like he was going to share a secret, “You know that little birthmark on her hip, looks kinda like a butterfly?” Zach launched himself at Dean with a roar; Dean took a quick step to the side, grabbed his arm, jammed a knee into his stomach, and crashed an elbow into his face, breaking his nose. Dean turned to Castiel and asked if he was alright. 

Cas started to nod when three more football players came around the corner of the building and Dean grabbed his hand and said “This way!” before sprinting away laughing. They ran all the way to the parking lot, climbed into Dean’s Impala, which his lanky younger brother was standing next to, and drove away from the school. Dean drove Sammy home and had Castiel wait in the car while he ran inside for a minute. 

He emerged a couple minutes later with a bottle of cheap whiskey and drove out to this meadow. They sat on the hood of the car and passed the bottle back and forth. They only got about a quarter of the way through (Castiel didn’t normally drink and Dean didn’t want to get too drunk with someone he just met, and who he had to drive home later), but they talked late into the night. Dean learned about Castiel’s family and his parents’ high expectations of him- he was considered “the smart one” of the family and there was pressure on him to get into a top college and study law or medicine. Castiel really wanted to study history and literature, maybe be a professor. Castiel learned about Dean, how his mom died when he was young and they moved around a lot. Dean was the one to take care of his brother since his dad was unreliable at best but nobody expected him to go to college or anything. Castiel thanked Dean for standing up for him and Dean said, “Aw, it was nothing, that guy is an asshole and I’ve never liked bullies.” They had been friends ever since.

They often found themselves in the meadow when John had been drinking; Dean would drop Sammy off at a friend’s house, pick up Cas, and head out there. Sometimes they’d bring alcohol, sometimes Castiel would help Dean with his homework, sometimes they’d just sit and talk. 

Even after graduation they had stayed close; Dean was a mechanic at a local shop and Castiel was attending a nearby college. They were both busy, but still found time to hang out.  
They found themselves in the meadow when John died; Dean was just 21 and Sam still had another year of high school. Bobby had taken Sam to his place for the night and Dean showed up at Castiel’s apartment he shared with his brother Gabe with red eyes and rumpled clothes, barely holding it together. Castiel rummaged in their freezer and found some fruity flavored vodka that he knew Gabe kept on hand and they went to the meadow. Dean got very drunk, he may have cried on Castiel’s shoulder a bit, worrying about being Sam’s guardian, how he was going to pay for him to go to college, how he was going to make it. When they woke up the next morning Dean was sprawled across the back seat and Castiel was in the front, head leaning against the passenger side window. That was the most that Dean let himself fall apart, and by the time they made it back into town Dean was stone faced and ready to deal with his shit. 

They wound up in the meadow after Sammy married Jess. That had been a good night. Dean and Castiel were both more than a little tipsy, and Cas had kissed Dean. They both laughed it off and neither one spoke of it after that night.

Castiel took Dean out there when he told him how he and Meg- a Criminal Psychology major at his college he had been seeing for a while- were getting serious and he had bought a ring. 

~~~

Dean was jolted out of his mental wanderings by Castiel standing in front of him, practically between his knees, with a bottle of champagne in either hand. Apparently he had swiped some from behind the bar before his big exit. He handed one of the bottles to Dean and proceeded to remove the foil from his own bottle, loosening the wire cage and popping the cork. He brought the neck of the bottle to his mouth to catch the overflowing foam and drank as deeply as he could through the carbonation. Dean still hadn’t said a word, he felt hope bubbling up in his chest, but was stamping it back down fiercely. He just set his unopened bottle on the hood of the Impala and watched Cas, waiting for him to give a hint as to exactly what the hell was going on here. 

Cas finally let up, a third of the bottle gone, and he locked his eyes onto Dean’s. He managed to get out a broken “Dean,” before taking another drink, still holding eye contact. “Dean,” he started over again, taking a step closer so his shins were against the front bumper and his body was leaning into the space in front of Dean, “I heard you today. With Sam.”

Dean felt his eyes go wide and his jaw dropped, he felt panic start to squeeze his chest, “Shit,” he breathed, terrified, “Cas, I didn’t, that was, I mean, you weren’t supposed to know…” Castiel didn’t give him a reaction, he just kept his eyes on Dean’s and took another pull from his champagne bottle. Dean’s mind was reeling, and he was sure he had majorly fucked up and now he’d lost his best friend. After a few seconds of unbearable silence he drew a deep, shaky breath and tore his eyes away, unable to hold that piercing blue gaze any longer. “Listen Cas, I’m sorry man, I know I fucked up. Hey, how about I give you a ride back to the wedding and then I’ll… I’ll leave. I don’t want to screw this up for you, this isn’t…” another deep breath, “this is my problem, ok? I’ll deal with it. You’re late, let’s go.” 

Dean started to stand up, to get in the car, but Cas didn’t move. He stayed there, in front of Dean, right in front of him, and said, “I’m not going back, Dean.” 

“You’re… _what_?” Dean gasped out, breathless, settling back onto the hood of the car with a thump, “But Meg-”

“I called it off,” Castiel cut in smoothly, like he was telling Dean that the weather was nice today, “I left her a letter, I called the travel company to change the arrangements for her to go on our honeymoon without me, and I left. With you. I’m not going back.”

Dean felt his eyes starting to sting, tears threatening to spill over, but he couldn’t let himself believe yet, “I don’t understand,” he whispered, “what are you saying, Cas?”

Castiel sighed and rolls his eyes, “What I’m saying, you _idiot_ , is that I’ve been in love with you since you broke Zachariah’s nose and for fifteen years I’ve been trying to stop, trying to move on, and I was officially giving up on you today.” He looked at his watch, “Right about now, actually.”

Dean stared open mouthed at his best friend, his best friend for the past fifteen years, who he’d been in love with for probably all of that time but only realized it himself when Cas told him he was going to propose to Meg and Dean felt like his heart was going to fall out of his chest. He grabbed the champagne bottle from Cas and drained the rest of it before dropping it on the grass beside the car. “But… you never said anything…”

“I kissed you,” Castiel said in his matter-of-fact way, “remember? The night of Sam and Jess’ wedding? It didn’t work out, we never talked about it, so I just… I decided I’d rather keep you as a best friend so I didn’t make it a thing.”

“I was surprised!” Dean almost yelled, “And then you were laughing and making it a joke and yeah, we never talked about it. I mean,” he stopped and looked at Castiel, searching his face, “I love you,” he finished at last, he had given up on trying to play it cool, Cas just walked out on his freaking wedding for him, the cards were pretty much on the table at this point. 

Castiel was so close, in Dean’s space, leaning into him, standing between his knees, and it didn’t take much at all before he had closed the gap, covering Dean’s mouth with his own, hands grasping at the lapels of Dean’s jacket. When they broke apart Castiel just growled, “You assbutt, I can’t believe you were going to just watch me get married,” he kissed him again, “Do you know how many years I’ve been waiting for this?” another kiss, “I can’t even tell you,” kiss, “ _I was giving up on you_ ,” he finished, pulling away and staring at Dean but still holding on to his jacket. His voice dropped, low and dangerous, and his eyes turned to steel, “I was giving up on you, I was done, and this is when I find out? And not even because you told me, but because I overheard you and your brother when I was trying to figure out why you’d been avoiding me all morning? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Dean was blushing, his freckles were stark on his cheeks, “Cas, you’re smart and educated and successful, you deserve better than me. What am I going to be able to give you? I wanted you to be happy, to be taken care of, and I’m a freaking mechanic.”  
Castiel took a settling breath before almost growling out, “Dean Winchester, you are everything I have ever wanted and everything I could ever ask for and if I ever hear you even _suggest_ that you aren’t good enough for me again I will punch you in the face. And then I’ll bring Sam and Bobby in and they’ll finish the job of kicking your ass. Understand? You are amazing and loving and kind and you deserve so much. You deserve everything.” And he kissed him again, long and slow and deep, to show his sincerity. 

~~~

A couple days later they showed up to Meg’s house to collect the few things Castiel had brought over. The house was empty because Meg had gone on their honeymoon trip. Not with one of her best friends, like Castiel had thought and arranged for, but with Balthazar, who she had apparently been sleeping with for some time. Next they swung by the apartment that he had been sharing with Gabriel to pick up the rest of his stuff. His books, journals, and other random belongings he’d collected. It was almost convenient that he'd already been between homes; longing for a place he didn't have to share with his trickster brother but not entirely comfortable in Meg's space. He hadn’t settled in at either place and it made his things easy to gather and pile into the Impala. He left all of the shared things like furniture, kitchen items, etc. Dean had everything they needed. 

They arrived in front of Dean’s house, a gorgeous old home that had been all but falling down when Dean bought it, but was now almost fully restored. Dean had done everything himself, with help from Sam, Bobby, and Cas here and there. He had spent the most time and money on the kitchen; it wasn’t huge or super fancy, but it was functional and efficient and the food he could produce out of it was unbelievable. The dining room had a sturdy solid wood table and chairs that Cas had made himself as a gift for Dean one birthday. There were built in shelves in the living room they had installed together one weekend; much of the space was taken with Dean’s book and music collection, but there was room for Castiel’s things to fit in alongside them. 

The two men sat on the couch, stacks of boxes looming in front of them, and drank a couple beers before getting to work on unpacking. Dean reached over and threaded his fingers through Castiel’s and gave him a soft smile, “I love you, you know,” he said, “I’m really fucking glad you were eavesdropping," he continued, his smile widening into a cheeky grin. 

Cas scoffed, “I was not eavesdropping, I was looking for you and accidentally overheard,” he rolled his eyes, “but I’m glad also.” He leaned over and gave Dean a sweet kiss before standing up and tackling the first box. Dean sat on the couch for another minute and smiled at him, watching, finally feeling like Cas had come home, where he’d always belonged.


End file.
